Olympic Heart Breaker!

I walked by the table and I asked, 'Have they shown the Luge yet?'

Not yet. I mention to the table, a seemingly nice middle aged couple out for dinner on Valentine's Day and whom just happened to sit near a television set, that I was anxious to see the Luge. A friend of my wife's was currently ranked 7th place and I wanted to watch his final run! (Sara knows an Olympic Athlete, whom I have met on several occasions so we get excited about the Luge.) The couple and I chit chat for several minutes about the Olympics and what not and then I hurry back to my own tables. Several times during the night I would visit the table, or they would flag me down to talk and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Suddenly, during one of my trips to the front of the restaurant I notice that the wife has been crying, and is on the phone. The husband is nowhere to be seen. I convinced myself that he was probably in the bathroom and it was nothing serious. Then at one point she asks me to open a side door of the restaurant, an odd request, and then I see the husband sitting across the street sitting in his SUV mouthing something to the wife. I accommodate the wife and open the door.

The long and the short of it is she thought he'd left her at the restaurant, which he had, he told her to get in the car in not the most friendly or respectful way, she took offense to his tone and language and told him to just go home, and then she sat back down at the table to drink her wine and cry some more! This is Valentine's Day, if you forgot! This married couple got into a fight on Valentine's Day, he threw some cash at her and walked out of the restaurant! Eventually, we called her a cab and she must've gone home!

It was heartbreaking to witness. The staff all felt awkward, and sympathetic yet we all couldn't stop talking about it. I felt doubly bad because I thought that they seemed to be a fun, friendly couple with whom I shared a love of winter sports. She hinted at one point towards divorce... on Valentine's Day.

I was glad to get home to Sara, understandably disappointed that I picked up a Valentine's shift at work, but forgiving because we need the money. Our friend finished 8th in the Luge, but I kept thinking about the couple and wondering about what could have been so wrong that it ruined their Valentine's Day and tainted the Winter Olympics at the same time!

Did You Feel That?

Couple of nights ago, around quarter to 5, I was shaken from my sleep by a tremendous jostling of the house. I was dead asleep but sat straight up in bed and realized Sara was up too. What was that sound? What had shaken the house?

I was convinced a tree had fallen on our house! (Don't laugh! In our neighborhood it happens more than you'd think.) Sara hadn't heard anything except me sitting up suddenly in bed - alarmed. I needed to check the house to be sure so I got out of bed and looked out of every window I could to see if there was a tree or a huge branch leaning against the house or crushing half of the patio. There was no sign that anything was amiss.

I'd imagined the whole thing. As I lay back down in bed, heart pounding, I was concerned. Why had I been awakened by an imaginary tree falling on the house? Stress? The recent snowstorms have brought down many trees and branches in the area. Both Sara and I have been missing work because of the weather and our bank account is feeling the loss. The show that I'm supposed to be opening this weekend is being affected by the blizzards because of missed rehearsals. We'd been snowed in the house for 3 days earlier in the week.

Add it all together and it appears to be a stressful time for me and my overactive imagination. My mind was playing tricks on me, I guess.

Oh, and it's snowing as I type this post. The 2nd blizzard in under a week. The bank account's still reeling, the show's status is still up in the air, and I'm still worrying about falling trees!

Snowbound Day 3!

The snow stopped falling last night but the amount of snow to shovel is overwhelming! We've cleared our cars and 8/10s of our driveway. It was a Herculean effort! With the driveway cleared, and the road semi-plowed we were finally able to take the dog out for a walk.

The area is still digging out and probably will be for days. Annapolis is under a driving ban, supposedly, so we haven't left the neighborhood. I'm not sure if we would make it anyway.

The show that I'm supposed to be rehearsing this weekend opens on Friday and we've missed most of the tech weekend! 'FROZEN' opens this coming weekend, hopefully, and will run for the next 3 weeks. I hope I haven't forgotten all of my lines during this ordeal!

I am sore from shoveling & the beer is running out! I am cranky, restless, broke, and sick of Winter!

I do have good news to report. Dad has been located. He is stranded in Houston, TX. He will apparently be able to catch a flight in on Tuesday, and so gets to prolong his vacation by a few days. If he'd have called us on Friday maybe he'd be stuck down in Mexico still... ah, I'd love to be sitting on a beach, sucking down a margarita and soaking up the Mexican sun!

A Newscaster Referred To It As 'Heart Attack Snow'!

Sara and I will head out at some point and attempt to tackle shoveling the driveway... maybe. It's been snowing since Friday around noon and but the snows supposed to continue until 10 PM or so. We may just wait until the morning to try and dig out. This storm is impressive to say the least.

The problem with shoveling is that the sidewalk is between the house and a cinderblock wall... no place to put the snow you shovel!

The driveway is equally challenging because half of it buts up against a wooden wall. Annoying!

In not a completely unrelated side note I do not know what has happened to my father! He was in Mexico for the last week on vacation - he flew out during a snowstorm last Saturday while I was plunging and, supposedly, returning today during the worst snowstorm in recent Maryland history! Unfortunately, he does not really know how to operate his voice mail, or access text messages on his cell phone so he may not realize that we are wondering about his whereabouts!

The Plunge!

Today I took part in my 1st ever Polar Bear Plunge! The weather sucked! The thermostat was stuck in the low 20's and it was snowing all day long! I guess there's something bad-ass about doing a Polar Bear Plunge in the snow!

The weather was so bad that they canceled the 2nd plunge group due to the adverse weather. I'm not sure how that makes me feel. I'd already gotten in and then they decide that maybe it's not a good idea to subject your body to those conditions?


All in all though it was a good time! I raised over $500 for the Special Olympics Maryland and I can say that I jumped into the Chesapeake Bay, and completely submerged myself, in the middle of the winter! I can also say that I now know what it means to be cold! I now can say, honestly, I couldn't feel my toes! I also now know what it feels like to have your body hair freeze - actually freeze solid!


Thank you to everyone who donated! Thank you to Adam for showing up to take photographic evidence of my Plunge! Thank you to Sara, my lovely & supportive wife, for putting up with my whims and for standing in line for over an hour in a white out to catch a return shuttle!

In case you're wondering about the hat it was a gift from my mother, I believe. Several articles of clothing are in my wardrobe because, 'I don't know anyone else that would wear this'. My mother gave me the hat, and I Plunged today for a cause I know she cared about. She was never far from my thoughts.

It's Coming!

2 days left before I jump into the icy waters of the Chesapeake Bay! I've raised almost $400 dollars so far! The weather supposed to take a turn for the worse and there may even be snow on Saturday! It's going to be an experience - a cold, cold, numb extremities, teeth-chattering, hypothermia kind of experience.

What Did You Do Today?

Below is a picture, taken by Sara, of the fallen tree and downed power lines that trapped us in our neighborhood until late in the afternoon - until after 4. The tree had fallen across the ONE entrance to our neighborhood pulling down several live wires, hence the brightly colored fire. No one could drive in and no one could drive out. 13 hours with no electricity. Not the most productive day.

Sometimes All You Can Do is Laugh.

I have 3 part time jobs at the present moment. 2 of the jobs aren't paying very well. The 3rd job, a substitute teaching position, pays a little more but is based on how much I am needed to fill in for others - so far I have not been needed.

So here I am, home early from a friday night at the restaurant where we had two major mishaps, prompting an appearance by the fire department, and less money than I was hoping to pull in during the shift. I am beginning to wonder if in a previous life I perhaps amassed a huge fortune, swam in my money vaults ala Scrooge McDuck, and horribly offended fate.

If it weren't for the savings account, which a generous contribution from my parents created in the first place, I would have to go begging for money from my father every month when the rent is due. I am backsliding further and further into debt as I continue to struggle against wave after wave what can only be described as a 'Enormous Shit Streak Of Luck'. I'm suffocating in pitfall of helplessness as I try and try to correct our errors, fix our situation, - right our course.

This bad money karma is killing me.

An Odd Statement

With a straight face she said to me, 'I don't trust the Amish.' Then she continued to eye the two customers, apparently Amish customers, as they browsed throughout the store.

I just clinched my jaw, nodded thoughtfully, and said nothing.

How can someone be suspicious of the Dutch Amish?

Farewell To 'The Lonesome Gods'!

I stayed up last night to finish a book I was reading. The book was titled 'The Lonesome Gods' and was written by Louis L'amour. I can't remember the last time I read a western.

This particular book followed the adventures of a young boy named Johannes Vernes as he grew to manhood in the old west. Without going into too much detail I will tell you that enjoyed the book for the most part, although the ending seemed to wrap up pretty quickly with a nice neat bow right on top.

The boy grows up an orphan, long story, in the desert and learns from the local Indians but must soon leave the desert for the small but expanding cattle town of Los Angeles. There is a storyline of revenge and hatred that eats away at a once proud, and powerful man. There's a mysterious matron who's past seems to lie in the exiled wasteland of Siberia. There's a mysterious giant who lives in the mountains and may or may not be a ancient god. The desert was also a big part of the story -almost a character of its own. The 500+ pages are filled with many memorable characters and the scope of the story is immense.

One of the main themes of the book was letting go of the past and embracing the future - something I'm not always very good at. There are many references to a changing world. The title refers to the old gods of the desert, the old ones, and a forgotten way of life.